Road-gripping device



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GBEPENG- DEVXGE.

Application led June 9,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it, lrnown that l, HENRY B'. S, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new vices and has or its object toprovide a device of this character which may be easily and quicklyattached to one of the drive wheels of an automobile, whereby tractionmay be obtained in sand or mud by preventing the wheel, furnishing thedriving power,

from spinning.

A further object is to provide a road gripping device for automobiles,said device comprising a pair of substantially L-.shaped one of the armsnof each of said nembers overlapping each other and adapted to engagethe tread ot an automobile tire and provided with slot and boltconnections whereby said overlapped arms may be moved and their endsmoved to positions beneath lugs. The other arms of the Lshaped membersextend inwardly in relation to the wheel and engage over the inner sideof the demountable rim, the device as a so whole yielding with the tire.

A further object is to provide a transversely disposed bolt connectingthe Y shaped members whereby said members may be forced towards eachother for inter-engagement.

t0 with each other, thereby forming a wide tread surface tor engagingthe tread of the With the above and other objects in view the inventionresides in the combination and parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, itbeing understood that .changes inthe precise'embodiment of the invention ma be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

ln the drawlngz- U Figure 1 is a front elevation ot the road 1923.Serial No. Ml.

gripping device, showing the same applied i l to a conventional form oftire.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device# Figure 3 is an inner' planview of the device.

Figure i is a view in elevation of the f device showing the reverse sideto that shown in Figure 1, and showing the device open orapplying to atire.

Referring to the drawing,

the numerals 1 and -2 designate L-shaped members, which members havetheir arms 3 extending to- 65 wards each other and overlapped when thedevice is applied to the tire 4. The arms 3 are provided with outwardlyextended' curved plates 5 at their upper sides, whic plates registerwith eachother when the 7G arms are moved to operative position as shownin Figure 1, and the device is applied to the tire. The plates 5 form arelatively wide bearing surface orthe-tread of the tire 4, therebypreventing injury of the during the road gripping operation. The arms 6of the lim-shaped members 1 and 2 extend inwardly in relation to thewheel at the sides of the tire 4 and curve inwardly and tire terminatein enlargements 7 which engage so over the opposite sides of thedemountable rim 8. lt will be seen in operation that the device may giveslightly with the tire 4, but the tire and demountable rim 8 will begrippedsudiciently to prevent circumferenti al' movement ot the grippingdevice during the rotation of the drive wheel.

Extending outwardly from the sides of the arms 6 adjacent their outerends are lugs 9 and through enlarged apertures 10 therein a to securingbolt 11 extends, and by means of which bolt the L-shaped members 1 and 2may be drawn towards each other to positions where the ends 12 of thearms 3 will be received in the slots 11i lug 16 carried by one of the ofthe L-shaped members and of the other L-shaped member,

arms 6 of one by the lug 9 at which time `the L-shaped members will beprevented from spreading outwardly on the pivotal 10o bolt 17 betweenthe L-shaped members but may move inwardly at their inner ends for morethoroughly gripping the sides of thetire with their arms 6. The boltA 17is carried by one ot the arms through an elongated aperture in the otherand 15 of the 95 3 and extends 105 arm, therefore it will be seen thatwhen the device is placed on the tire, while the device is in theposition as shown in Figure 4, the arms 3 may be moved into registrationwith each other, and after they are in registration, upon tightening thenut 19 of the secur` ing bolt 11,'the ends 12 may be positioned in theslots 14 and 15 of the 1u 16 and 9, thereby securely locking and ho dingthe dcvice on the tire.

From the above it will be seen that a road gripping device is providedor automobile drive wheels which device may be easily and quicklyapplied to the wheel while the wheel is in the mud, thereby obviatingthe present diiculty of placing tire chain.; on drive wheels under theseconditions, it will also be seen that the device yields with the tireand the L-shaped members are positively locked together when position onthe tire, thereby insuring a uniform and nonmovable road gripping memberformed 'om overlapping members, which members not move in relation toeach other. it will also be seen that the device is provided with arelatively wide tire engaging surface,

thereby preventing damage to the tire, and at the same time insuring alarge bearing snrface.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as Vnew and usefulis 1. The combination with an automobile tire, of a road gripping devicecarried thereby, said device comprising hshaped members, one of the armsof said L-shaped members overlapping, the other arms of said h-shapedmembers extending inwardly to the side of the tire, and integralinterengaging means between the L-shaped inemq bers.

2. The combination with an automobile tire, of a road gripping devicecarried thereby, said device comprising oppositely disposed l.shapedmembers, one of the arms of said l.shapedmembers overlapping, the otherarms of said L-shaped members eX- tending inwardly to the sides of thetire, the overlapped arms being provided with pin and slot connectionswhereby said overlapped arms may be moved longitudinally, lugs carriedby the L-shaped members, and over which lugs the ends of the overlappedarms are disposed, and a transversely disposed bolt connecting saidLshaped members together.

3. The combination with an automobile tire, of a road gripping devicecarried thereby, said device comprising oppositely disposed L-sliapedmembers, having one of their arms overlapped, slot andpin connectionsbetween saidoverlapped arms, slotted lugs carried by said L-shapedmembers and adapted to receive the ends of the overlapped arms,y a boltconnecting said l..- shaped members together, the other arms of incapacisaid Lshaped members extending inwardly to the sides of the tire andforming means for preventing outward movement of the road grippingdevice.

4. The combination with an automobile tire, of a road gripping devicecarried thereby, said road gripping device comprising oppositelydisposed members connected together slidably, interengaging meansbetween said members when said members are moved towards each other, andmeans for moving the members towards each other and in interengagement.

5. The combination with an automobile tire, of a road gripping devicecarried thereby, said device comprising oppositely disposed lshapedmembers having one of their arms overlapped and in registration,slidable connections between said overlapped arms, slotted lngs carriedby the members and adapted to receive the ends of the overlapped arms,means for moving the members towards each other, the other arms of saidL-shaped members extending inwardly to the sides of the tire and formingmeans for preventing outward movement of the device.

d. A road gripping device for automobile tires, said device comprisingoppositely disposed Lshaped members, having one of their armsoverlapped, pivoted and slot connections between the overlapped arms,interengagin means between the outer ends of the over apped arms andportions of the adjacent L-shaped members, means for forcing and holdingthe L-shaped members towards each other, the other arms of the Lshapedmembers engaging the sides of the tire and forming means for preventingoutward movement of the device.

7. A. tire gripping device comprising oppositely disposed substantiallyL-shaped members having one of their arms pivotally and slidablyconnected together, interengaging means between the l -shaped members,means for forcing said l.shaped members together and into engagement,the other arms of said E -shaped members forming means' for preventingoutward movement of the device.

8. The combination with an automobile tire, said tire being disposed ona demountable rim, of a road gripping device carried by said tire, saiddevice comprising oppositely disposed L-shaped members having one oftheir arms pivotally and slidably connected together beneath the treadof the tire, interengaging means between the ends oi the pivotallyconnected arms and portions of the adjacent .L-shaped members, means forforcing said Lshaped members towards each other, said ivotally connectedarms being provided with tire tread engaging plates in registration witheach other, the other arms of said L-shaped inembers extending inwardlyto the sides of the of the tire, interengamg means lbetween. tire andengaging over the inner side of the said members when o ced towards eachdemountable rim. other, and means connectin said members 1o 9. A roadgripping device for automobile for forcing the same tower s each other.`5 tires, said device comprisin oppositcly disn testimony whereof aix mysignature.

posed pivotally and sii ably connected membersadapted to grip theopposite sides HENRY B. SMETH.'

